Do children get easier as they grow older?

I always presumed that as my children grew older, things were get easier.  I would start getting time back to myself.  I was so wrong.  In some respects things are easier,  The fact that I go pop to the loo without someone demanding to know where I am.  The fact that I can even pop to the shops and leave them both home alone knowing they are quite safe but the time factor gets harder,

Back in the days when they had first started school, we would come home and before long it was bath, book and bed and I would still have a reasonable amount of the evening left to myself.  Nowadays I think the kids would literally go to bed at the same time as me if they could and I'm 100% sure that on some nights my daughter is still awake when I go to bed. 

Not only do they go to bed a lot later we also spend most nights of the week running around from one club to the other,  Some nights it is 8 pm before we even get in, never mind thinking about getting them to bed.  I need a big sign in the back of my car declaring Mum's Taxi.

Then there are the weekends.  I used to love a Sunday morning chill out,  To crawl out of bed, laze around safe in the knowledge that we didn't have to be anywhere in particular. Now my Sunday's involve an alarm clock and getting dressed up like an Eskimo enduring all weathers while I watch my son play football for an hour and a half.

Would I swap any of it?  Not a chance. 

Review of Fearless by Jessie Keane

I have loved all of Jessie's previous books and this one did not disappoint.  It has everything a book needs, brilliant characters, romance, violence, laughter and tears.

We are thrown into the world of Josh as he aims to become King of the bare knuckle Gypsy fighters, with his young sweetheart Claire by his side, he has the world at his feet.  Little does he know that Shauna is just waiting to get her hands of him and will stop at nothing to win his affections.  Playing dirty means nothing to her she just wants to get her hands on him no matter what the cost.

When Claire suddenly disappears Josh's search for her is futile and he finds himself in the arms and in the bed with Shauna.  Now that she has him in her clutches she will not let him go.

This book really builds as the characters reveal more and more of themselves.  Claire is not the meek and mild girl that she once was and Shauna shows her most evil and nastiest side but revenge is always sweet.

This book made me cry in places and laugh in others.  The one thing I loved was the ongoing love triangle that just weaved deeper and deeper.  We are thrown into a world of violence, blood and brawling but true love will always win.

Removing the word 'and'

I have been working on a story for a fair few months.  Picking it up when I can and trying to get on with the editing process. The story initially took me 10 minutes to write as the idea flowed but I am now 6 months on and it's still sat here. I have to admit that my grammar does tend to be a little on the sloppy side so I wanted it to be as near perfect as I could manage. 

So,  I was almost at the stage where I thought it was ready to be sent off to my chosen magazine.  I've pondered over full stops and commas.  I've added capital letters and tweaked my words.  Checking my word count, it was spot on.  Time for the final print out.

I read it a further time and was horrified to note how many times I have used the word 'and'.
The story just didn't flow it was littered with the little bleeders.  I have spend a further 2 hours this afternoon removing almost all the 'and' words and totally re-written whole sections. 

I have to admit that I am now starting to feel proud of my little story. Just removing that word has made such a big difference to my story.

How can one little word cause so much trouble?

Wish me luck as it is almost ready to go.

When the idea's flow

I read an article the other day about a writer that found her best ideas came to her whilst in the bath.  I honestly don't have many baths preferring to shower twice daily instead but I thought I'll give that a go.  Ran myself a nice hot bubbly bath and settled back and waited for the ideas for to flow.

All I can say is baths don't work for me.  I found my eyes travelling all around the imperfections and noticing all the places I'd managed to miss when cleaning.  Closing my eyes to block out the room I was soon interrupted by my ten year old banging on the door begging to be let in as he desperately needed a poo.  That's why I don't enjoy baths.  For me they are far from relaxing and by the time I got out all wrinkled I was trying to plan in the time to re-decorate the room before Christmas.

I realised tonight that the time when my idea's flow is whilst washing the pots. That boring mundane job that I have to do every day, sometimes 3 to 4 times and that's when my creative juices start kicking in.  The problem is that until now I haven't really noted anything down straight away and by the time I get to sit down the idea has gone.

Tonight I dried my hands, grabbed my notebook, jotted down the idea and went back to the pots.  Now I have something that I can work on later on and hopefully will find myself in a new routine with a note book now placed in the kitchen perfect for this pot washing moments. The only problem with that is it now takes my three times as long to get the pots cleared away.

When do you find your best ideas spring to mind?

Review of Into the Darkness by Sibel Hodge

I picked this book up on amazon for a bargain £1 and it is probably one of the best £1's I have ever spent.  This book takes you on a gripping roller coaster ride into the darkness and back,  I have sat here for 3 full hours unable to put the book down until the heart stopping end. Probably the most chilling aspect is the thought that these places could actually exist in real life.  Unfortunately I think they do.  A part of me actually wants to google it to try and find out more.  I know that I won't for fear of what I could find.

Having read Sibel's previous books I was already aware of the characters of Maya and Mitchell but you don't have to read previous books to enjoy the story and learn about the characters.

This books starts off as what appears to be three separate stories.  First we meet the victim who is imprisoned in a cell. She's been kidnapped.  She is interested in criminology and psychology and in particular the twisted minds of serial killers but little does she know that her digging around has set her up to be the next victim.

Story two is the detective.  He's winding down and tying up loose ends, due to leave his job in two weeks time he doesn't want to be landed with a new investigation into the murder of a retired couple in a rural farmhouse but he soon finds himself in the thick of things and uncovering more than he anticipated.

Story three is the vigilante.  He's ex SAS and he's soon on the trail to track down the victim.  Unbeknown to him it's his friend's daughter and he will stop and nothing to track her down.

This is a brilliant twisty book. The characters back stories are slowly revealed and cleverly interwoven together.     This is the best thriller I have read in a long time.

How I found the author Lesley Pearse

After posting a book review yesterday about The House across the Street written by Lesley Pearse it got me thinking about how I discovered the author.

My Grandma worked in a charity shop and loved books and reading as much as I do.  She would always bring me a bag full of books that she thought I would like to read.  I have to confess that most of the books she brought were not really my taste and they would get bagged up and sent to another charity shop whilst telling little white lies that I enjoyed them so as not to hurt her feelings.

I was eight months pregnant when a bag full of Lesley Pearse books appeared. My grandma told me she had read them herself and really enjoyed them.  It was a hot summer and I was feeling really fed up so came in to have a lie on the sofa.  I had a rummage through the books. There was a lot to choose from but  I picked up 'Remember Me' and after reading the blurb on the back thought I would give it a go.  From that moment on I was hooked.  I didn't move for the next five hours and my husband came in from work to no tea. The final month of the pregnancy found me reading, Till We Meet again, Never look back and Trust me to name but a few.

I've gone on to read every book and always eagerly await her new releases.  My Grandma and I weren't overly close but we did share the love of a good book.

Review of The House Across the Street by Lesley Pearse

I couldn't wait to read this latest book.  I am a big fan of Lesley's books and have the whole back catalogue and this one was another winner.  It kept me reading well into the night.

This story follows a young girl called Katy.  She lives in a normal house, in a normal street with an almost normal family but a when a fire rips through the house opposite and the finger of blame is pointed at her father, things take a drastic change.

The owner of the house is tragically killed but as her story unravels and we find out the reason for the mysterious visitors it is easy to relate the domestic abuse to the thousands of cases that we hear of today.  The is a gently handed aspect of the book and one that many people can probably relate to.  It seems though although today big leaps have been made in the help that women can get, the reality is that things haven't changed a great deal.

When Katy decided to play detective she finds herself in a life threatening situation and she has definitely bitten off more than she can chew. Will her friends find her in time or does she have the means to escape herself.

As the story unravels and the back story to the characters is unravelled you can't help the tears that well in your eyes. I didn't want this book to end.    It's a heavy subject that is written lightly but intensely with the magic of family, friendship and love cleverly interwoven,

You need to read this book,

Review of the Loney by Andrew Micheal Hurley

I was looking forward to reading this book after seeing the number of awards it had been awarded. I was sure I was in for a treat but I was left feeling a little flat and disappointed.

The description of the setting is truly unsettling and you really get the shivers as you imagine yourself on the shore of the Loney.  It really feels that the end of the world as we know it.  Moorgates is a house out of a horror film and to spend the night there would give you nightmares for the rest of your life. With the background tales of the children dying from TB and the old taxidermist that inherited the house but then left overnight leaving his hoard of stiffed animals. It's creepy.  The characters that still live at Loney are just as unsettling and chilling and you really wouldn't want to meet any of them on a dark night.  However, the story just didn't go anywhere and I must admit to finding chapter after chapter of just plodding on and the story not really developing.

There is a strong religious theme running through this as the family go on a visit to the shrine at Loney to seek out a cure for their mute son.  Here is where the confusion began for me.  I wasn't sure what was wrong with him apart from the fact that he didn't speak.  The two brothers were very close but I always got the impression that Andrew (or Hanny, another confusion) as he is often referred to is the younger of the two but as the story ends It would appear that he is actually the older, I think,  To be honest, I'm still unsure.

The other characters were a little on the cliche side for me.  The seriously religious mother, the over-powering vicar that loses his faith and the mousey Ms Blunt,  The sinister characters that live at Loney are very much in the background and although you get the sense that they are sinister there is no clearing up as to what their story really is and who they really are apart from a group of strange men.

The story just seems to end.  The narrator is a little erratic and although at the start you get the feeling that he is the normal character he appears to be as insane as the rest of them.  The story wraps up quickly in the final few pages and I was left feeling very disappointed.

I can see how the book as won the awards with the atmospheric setting and the beautiful descriptive writing but for me the characters and the story fell a little short of the mark.

Where have the years gone?

I can't believe that I now officially have a teenager.  My baby girl seems to have grown up over night and is now a beautiful young lady both inside and out.

My children are growing before my eyes and it won't be long before they both tower over me.

I had stupidly always thought that as my children grew older I would start getting more time back to myself,  I was wrong, so very very wrong.  They take up more of my time just in a very different way.

I remember when I first started writing this blog by 7,30 pm most nights I could be logged onto my laptop with both children snuggled up in bed and fast asleep.  I also recall that back in those days I was so tired by that time due to the broken nights of sleep that I had endured and the very early 5.30 am wake up calls that it was a struggle to motivate myself but I did find some reserves of energy left to write.

Nowadays, it's home from work, sort the tea and then out to whatever club we have on from Football to Musical Theatre there is always something going on.  I usually cram my food shopping around their clubs then home, showered, books, homework, spellings and whatever else we have on.  Most nights it's at the earliest 9.30 pm bed time and by then I am literally good for nothing but curling up with my book, where I manage a chapter at most, before sleep takes me. There is very little time in the day left to write and by the time the kids are snuggled up and settled I am closely following them planning the hectic schedule for the following day. The motivation to write is a million miles away.

Would I have it anyway? Not a chance. 

Procrastination at it's best

I made a deal with myself that once I got the kids back to school after the long six weeks holiday I was going to make every Friday my day.  A day to get stuck into my writing and really concentrate on editing the numerous stories I have drafted out and done nothing with.

Week one, I failed.  Instead of sitting down and writing I decided to go shopping for my daughters upcoming birthday presents.  Well, that was a job I needed to do.  Not satisfied with a day of shopping I then decided to decorate the said daughters bedroom.  It was a room that I've been promising her I would do for over a year but did I have to do it right now? No. That pretty much took up a whole three days and not a word was written.

Week two, I have failed again.  With the bedroom looking all clean and fresh I decided that the rest of the house needed a good deep clean so that pretty much took another full day and for my free Friday well, I've just pretty much wasted it on doing nothing much at all.  I sat down with my book and a coffee and pretty much sat on the sofa all afternoon. 

That's what you call procrastination at it's best.

Review of Murder Mile by Lynda La Plante

Everything that you expect in a La Plante book and more.  I love the character of Jane Tennison and in this book she gets herself into more close scrapes.  As the body count ramps up Jane is flat out hunting down the killer but are her and her fellow detectives heading down the wrong path?

This book kept me awake into the early hours trying to figure out who the killer was and the many twists and turns left me coming up blank until finally the killer is revealed.

I've loved the previous books in the Tennison series and can't wait to find out what path Jane will take next.

This is a definite gritty crime book with none of the modern technology that seems to make life that little bit easier nowadays.  This is about trawling through the evidence and knocking on doors.  Jane still has to battle to make her mark in this world of men (That's just how it was back in the 70's) but Jane pulls out all the stops and despite the many knock backs cracks the case.

Jane takes the rule book and bends it with a fierce tenacity to do the right thing and get the results, no matter what the cost.

Brilliant read.

Pigeon on the loose

I've had a bit of a dramatic Monday afternoon.  I was at work for 7.30 am this morning and by 3 pm I was home with my shift over, the food shopping done and all put away plus the house tidied up.  There for only one thing for it, a sit down with a coffee and a biscuit.  A little half hour chill before I started the tea.

No sooner had a sat down when there was a whooshing of air and a flapping of wings. Over my head flew a pigeon. Yep, an actual live big fat pigeon had dared to enter my house uninvited.  He'd obviously got lost and decided to pay us a little visit. He'd flown through my open french doors and crashed head first into my firmly closed living room window.  He was in such a panic, flapping and throwing itself around that it managed to become firmly tangled in my front vertical blind.

Leaping from my chair I hastily slammed all the doors shut to prevent it moving further through my house.  I am an animal lover but no way did I want our visitor flying all over the house.  By this point the kids had come running into the room to see what all the commotion was about and were almost falling hysterically to the floor with fits of laughter.

My first attempt to help it to leave was to open the side window and help it to step calmly back outside but my little pigeon had other ideas and opted to wedge itself more firmly in the blinds.  Taking a deep breath, (I have to admit to letting out a few girly little shrieks when it unexpectedly flapped a me) I finally had it in a nice firm hold and was able to transport it outside where he was released back into the garden and happily flew away to sit on the roof opposite. I'm fairly sure it had a good old laugh at me.

Firmly closing the door I headed back inside to clear up the nice little pile of bird poop and hover up the numerous loose feathers all over the living room floor.  Ironically by the time I managed to return to my coffee it had turned rather cold and got tipped down the sink.I  was feeling anything but chilled.

It gave us all a bit of excitement of a what would have been a routine boring Monday afternoon.

Review - Girls of the Great War by Freda Lightfoot

I purchased this is a Kindle Daily Deal and wasn't left disappointed.  I do usually prefer a book that is a little grittier and darker but it was an enjoyable read all the same.

This book folllows the journey of Cecily and her sister Merryn as they deal with their super star mother, Queenie.  Queenie is obnoxious, demanding and mostly unlikeable. The family hit on hard times during the war and find themselves heading over to the front line in France to boost the morale of the troops and entertain with their music hall singalongs and plays.  There is of course, heartbreak, drama, love and loss but despite a few scrapes they return at the end of the war back to blightly with another set of challenges to face.

The back story to Queenie's bad attitude and temperament is revealed and you can't help but start to feel sorry for this characters pain.  Merryn settles into becoming a mother herself and we travel with her through her disastrous marriage and Cecily, who is determined to stay single due to the loss of the loves of her life, is heading once again down the path of romance.

This is a twisty story that keeps you reading well into the night.

It's been four years!!!

I cannot believe that it has been four years since I have written a post on here.  I have failed in my mission. 

But, that is going to change.  I have to admit I am having a bit of a mid life crisis.  It's my big 40 next year and I haven't achieved anything like what I set out to do.  I am determined that I have to change that.  My one big love in my life (apart from my children) is reading and writing. That is going to be the big focus of this blog.  I have debated whether to write this blog off and start a total fresh but it's got fond memories and I need to inject some new life into here.

My focus is going to be mainly book reviews to start with and along the way my trials of being a published writer.  I have lots of pieces that I have started and never finished and little confidence that what I write is much good so next to nothing has been sent off for possible publication.  Well, starting soon I am going to be sending out work, posting snippets of my writing and hopefully my goal of being published before the dreaded 40 will be achieved. 

I've been conkered

I have been having a bit of a problem this week with unwanted visitors.  Huge spiders have taken it upon themselves to pay nightly visits.  I feel like I am beginning to live in a horror movie.  I hate the things.  Can't stand to be anywhere near them.  I know it's irrational and they are probably more scared of me but they give me the creeps.  I have been bravely capturing them and putting them back where they belong but it is not an easy or a nice job.

I have been told them they don't like conkers and to put them in your room to ward them off.  How much of an old wives tale it is, and whether or not it will work, I don't know but time will tell.  Anything is worth a go. So, after school tonight me and my boy went conker hunting and he found a massive amount that he collected up and brought home.

I told him the plan was to place a few in and around the house in places where we'd seen the spiders and where they might me getting in.  Namely, the hallway and the living room.
"Can I do it, mum?" he asked.
"Sure" I replied.  "Just a couple in each room should do it." I said walking off to undertake other tasks.
"Taaa daaa, come and see mum.  Is that OK?"

Well, there are conkers everywhere.  The spiders won't be coming within 10 miles of this house if it works.  My staircase resembles an airport runway and I have to tread carefully when walking in the front door so as not to break my neck.  And they are little piles on them stashed in every nook and cranny.
"Good job, Charlie" I laughed. "Your job is to collect them all up when we no longer need them though."

I've also read that you can make up a solution a water, washing up liquid and peppermint oil.  Haha, I thought, I still have peppermint oil in my cupboard from my rat problem so hey presto one concoction made up and sprayed all around my house.  It now smells minty fresh.  Fingers crossed it works.

Writer, Mother and Reviewer: Summer is ending

Writer, Mother and Reviewer: Summer is ending: The summer is ending and there's a definite chill to the air in the morning.  Autumn is certainly on it's way. This summer has bee...

Summer is ending

The summer is ending and there's a definite chill to the air in the morning.  Autumn is certainly on it's way. This summer has been great and I have had some fantastic times with my two little devils.  We have had lots of family fun days out exploring the coast and having great times at the seaside with lots of fish and chips, a speed boat ride, hunting for crabs (we only found a dead one) and Charlies thrill at catching his first fish even though it was only the size of his little finger
 We even managed a trip to Crete which was like heaven.  All distant but great memories now... I am hoping to squeeze in a few more days out before the weather turns but we'll see.









I have to say it is nice to have the kids back at school though.  I love having them at home but six weeks is more than enough.  It has been testing keeping them occupied to say the least.  Saying that week two and already I have been called home from work to pick up a sick little boy.  Although there didn't seem a great deal wrong with him when I got him home.  A bit of a sniffle and a little bit sorry for himself but fingers crossed he's been dosed up with the paracetamol and a good nights sleep should have him right as rain for the morning.

On the writing front I have been working hard on various pieces and I have a couple of pieces entered into competitions and I have a further few pieces that are almost ready to be submitted to magazines so hopefully something may come of those.  The good thing about the dark nights is I get the kids to bed far earlier and that leaves more writing time for me.

My book reviews on here are sadly lacking at the minute.  Not that I haven't been reading because I have read some crackers but it's been the case of not enough hours in the day.  Hopefully I'll be back on track with those too shortly.

It's been a fair while since I wrote a blog post and to be honest it had crossed my mind to maybe give it up but sitting here tonight and writing this I have realised just how much I have missed it so no doubt the gap won't be as long anymore I can feel the bug has been re-caught.

Pants, Pants, Pants!

Oh dear, my little man was not a happy lad the other day.  With our up coming holidays his pants were looking rather shabby so it was time to go out and buy him some new ones.  Now, considering he's only 5 he's very picky when it comes to which pants he will wear.  He likes the neat fitting boxers and only with certain designs on, namely batman or angry birds.

I searched high and low for some and had to hit numerous shops to find what I was looking for.  Finally bingo! I found some.

I arrived to collect him from school laden down with bags to which he inquisitively asked, "Is that something for me?"
"It certainly is," I replied, "but you'll have to wait until we get home to see what it is."

Stepping in the front door he eagerly emptied out the contents of the carriers before he looked at me in disgust.
"Pants!" he shouted. "Pants, pants and more pants.  Argghhh, I hate pants"
He proceeded to have a tantrum of epic proportions, throwing himself on the sofa and burying his head in the cushions.  I calmly placed the pants back in the bag and left him to it. That was not the reaction I'd expected.
After a while he decided to have another look in the bag.  "How many pairs of pants have you bought me?" he asked.
"Well count them"
"Eight" he replied.  "Eight pairs of pants and I can't even wear them can I? Not until my holiday." He sulked
"You can wear the pants." I replied.  "I'm not saving them just for the holiday.  I bought you them because I thought you'd like them and your old news are looking tatty."
"Oh OK," he replied.  "You could have just bought me one pair and then bought me some toys though, couldn't you?"

I guess pants wasn't a great surprise. However, he proceeded to inspect each pair checking that the picture was OK before declaring, "Mummy, I love my pants.  In fact, I'm going to put these batman ones on right now."

Celebrations

It's been quite a while since my last post but things have been more than a little hectic and there simply hasn't been enough hours in my day.  Add to that, the fact that I have been plagued with a stinking cold for the last few weeks and it's not added up to a very productive time for my writing. Today I have set aside the time to write about our special Friday evening.

There has been a lot of sneaking around and underhand dealings of late as me, my sister and brother have been organising a surprise party for mum and dad.  It's a big year for them with my mum turning 60 and their Ruby Wedding Anniversary next month and with those milestones we simply had to make it memorable. Another reason to celebrate is my dads continuing improvement in health.  We were unable to celebrate his 60th as he was undergoing chemotherepy and in all honesty after the nightmare of last year, well, we all feared the worst but somehow he's got through.  So what better reason for a knee's up.

Mum and dad aren't big on parties and they hate a lot of fuss so the plan was to do something small but special with close family and friends.  The room was booked, the invites sorted and all the sneaking around and digging out of old really embarrassing photos achieved.

Friday morning me and my sister put the finishing touches together and there were a few close shaves which nearly let the cat out of the bag, especially when during a conversation with me mum she said she was going to ring my sister at work to discuss childcare arrangements. I knew full my sis well was sat at home making truffles as I'd literally left her to it five minutes prior. Argghhhh!  There was plenty of excuses and quick thinking to be done. Phew, it was hard work.

Finally, the room was set up, the guest all in place and it was down to my brother to bring them at the allotted time and just fingers crossed they weren't too cross.

Result! They loved it.  They both has huge smiling faces and glistening tears in their eyes when the found is all tucked away in the room waiting  We'd managed to keep it a total secret and they'd had no inkling of what we'd planned, which was a surprise in itself and I was sure mum had her suspicions. She always seems to know everything and it's very difficult to get anything past her.

 The night went without a hitch and a brilliant time was had by all.  In the words of my dad, "It was perfect." That was like music to my ears.

Face Painting the Result

I have been contacted by numerous people these last few weeks regarding the outcome of the tests on the face paints that were used on my children's face that caused very nasty reactions.

To re-cap,  I took my children to a family fun day organised by the City Council where both my children had their faces painted.  To my horror when we awoke the next morning both children where left with angry burn like marks as a result of the black face paint used.

The face paints in question were obtained by Trading Standards and sent away for testing. I have now been contacted to advise that the results are inconclusive.

So, I am left in limbo and I have no answers as to why this happened.  It was suggested to me that it may be the way that the face paint was removed at the end of the day but as different methods were used, (one used a face wash in the shower while the other used a make-up remover face wipe of a different brand,) I struggle to believe this.  The humidity of the day was also mentioned but again I struggle to understand how that could have an effect.  The day in question was rather chilly so I wouldn't have thought that would have made a difference.

Both my children have had their faces painted on previous occasions and never suffered any type of reaction nor do I class them as having sensitive skin.  I guess I will never know why this happened and where the finger of blame, if any, should be pointed.

All I can say is that I will be certainly apprehensive to allow them to have their faces painted again and this is a real shame as it was something they have previously enjoyed.

Numerous face painters have contacted me regarding this and I know this this has upset them greatly as they take their profession very seriously and the health and well being of the children they deal with is paramount. I can only hope that this is an isolated incident. My only concern is that my children weren't the only children effected at the event and I only hope that correct procedures have now been put in place for future events.

http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/Hull-mum-Jayne-Baker-threatens-legal-action-face/story-20714415-detail/story.html

http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/Tests-face-paints-marked-children-s-skin-safe/story-20917665-detail/story.html